History of Infineon Raceway

Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains near Sonoma, California, USA. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills. It is host to one of only five NASCAR races each year that are run on road courses (including two races at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York and the Busch-only races at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico and at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada). It is also host to the Indy Racing League, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR, wanting a west coast road course event to replace it, chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside International was razed for a shopping center development.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporation, Infineon. However, as with many re-naming of sports complexes, many people still call it by its original name. Despite its name, it was in no ways affiliated with Sears, Roebuck and Company, having been named for the nearby geographical feature.

The standard road course at Infineon Raceway is a 2.52 mile (4.05 km), 12 turn course, however the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and was criticized by many drivers, who prefer the full layout.  In 2001, it was replaced with the 70° turn, 4A bringing the track to its current dimensions.  Most races, including the Grand American Road Racing Association's Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course, while American Motorcyclist Association and Indy Racing League events use a modified 2.22 mile (3.57 km), 12 turn course. This layout, opened in 2003, skips much of the Esses and run from Turn 10 to Turn 11 (the hairpin) for additional safety for motorcyclists, including runoff available in the motorcycle Turn 11 (the main Turn 11 has no runoff, and is a very slow turn, similar to the Mirabeau hairpin at Monaco). The raceway also has a quarter mile (400 m) drag strip used for NHRA drag racing events, and is located on part of the front straightaway on the course.

Lately Infineon Raceway has been dropping sports car races from its schedule. It last hosted the American LeMans Series in 2005. The Speed World Challenge dropped Infineon this season. That leaves Grand Am as the only sports car league left to use Infineon. However, in 2007 only the Daytona Prototypes will be used.

Infineon Raceway has a permanent seating capacity of 47,000. This includes the grand stands and terraces around the track. During major races, hospitality tents and other stages are erected around the track, which brings the total capacity up to 102,000 seats.